NOMINATED FOR THE 2014 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL Sometimes reality can really get in the way of a good story. Joe Middleton’s story is this: He doesn’t remember killing anyone, so there’ s no way a jury can convict him of serial murder. He calls himself Joe Victim, trying, as he awaits trial, to convince the psychiatrists that he wasn’t in control of his actions, trusting that the system will save him in the end. But others know Joe as the infamous Christchurch Carver and they want to see him dead. There’s Melissa, Joe’s accomplice in one of the murders, who plans on shooting him on his way to the courthouse before he gets a chance to start talking. Then there’s Raphael, whose daughter was one of the Carver’s victims. Though he’s tried to move on with life as the leader of a counseling group for grieving family members, he’d like nothing more than to watch Joe pay. Finally there’s Carl Schroder, the ex-detective who locked Joe up and is determined to put things right for the case of his career. To extract himself from this epic mess, Joe has come up with a desperate plan involving a television psychic who’s looking to get rich by making people believe just about anything. It’s a long shot, but it had better work before he becomes the poster boy for a death penalty that may be reinstated in New Zealand, which isn’t quite the dramatic ending he is hoping for…

The long-awaited sequel to the acclaimed thriller The Cleaner The internationally best-selling author of Collecting Cooper and The Laughterhouse brings back one of his most infamous characters, the Christchurch Carver, in this gripping new thriller. Joe Middleton, aka the Christchurch Carver, is in jail awaiting trial for a slew of murders he says he didn't commit. His only way out is to convince the psychiatrists assessing him that he wasn't of sound mind and can't be blamed for what he did. But that's the least of his worries. That's because there's no shortage of people who like the idea of seeing Joe dead, some of whom are in prison with him. To get himself out of this mess, Joe has a desperate plan involving the disgraced ex-detective who put him away and a TV psychic who's looking to get rich. It's a long shot, but it had better work – because there's talk of bringing back the death penalty, and the Christchurch Carver is just the poster boy to make it happen. Also available as an eBook

Sergeant Lindsay Boxer tackles an ambitious case that spans San Francisco, L.A., and Chicago in this pulse-pounding thriller of "smart characters" and "shocking twists" (Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author). Three victims, three bullets, three cities. The shooters' aim is as fearsomely precise as their target selection. When Lindsay realizes that the fallen men and women excel in a lucrative, criminal activity, she leads the charge in the manhunt for the killers. As the casualty list expands, fear and fascination with this suspicious shooting gallery galvanizes the country. The victims were no angels, but are the shooters villains . . . or heroes?

This unprecedented in-depth account of how our major institutions respond to the crime of rape is the first empirical study of rape victims in the United States as they come into contact with those who staff our police stations, hospitals, and courthouses. As this engrossing study makes clear, rape does not end with the assailant's departure; the profound suffering of the victim can be diminished or heightened by the response of these institutions. The authors provide direct, on-the-scene reports of how rape victims confront and endure the often devastating effects of institutional processing. Their work is based on first-hand observations, personal interviews, and case histories that document the rape victim's plight, and includes tables that present all research findings in easy-to-grasp numerical terms. The authors note changes now taking place, and argue that further institutional changes must be made to delegitimize rape in our society. The new introductory essay locates The Victim of Rape within the context of four lines of research: studies looking at the criminal justice system processing of such cases, the connection of rape to everyday life, social-structural and ideological support for rape, and strategies for prevention.

Don’t miss the JOE PICKETT series—now streaming on Paramount+ In this New York Times bestseller, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is determined to find out who put his daughter’s life in danger—even if it kills him. Joe Pickett had good reason to dislike Dallas Cates, and now he has even more—Joe’s eighteen-year-old daughter, April, has run off with him. And then comes even worse news: She has been found in a ditch along the highway—alive, but just barely, the victim of blunt force trauma. Cates denies having anything to do with it, but Joe knows in his gut who’s responsible. What he doesn’t know is the kind of danger he’s about to encounter. Cates is bad enough, but Cates’s family is like none Joe has ever met.

In Victim's Choice, the spectacular first novel by Michael McClister, Joe Colby is a successful TV newscaster and a recent widower. When he loses his two children to a rapist-murderer, there is little that can be done to assuage his crippling grief--even when the man is caught and put behind bars. With an unquenchable thirst for revenge, Joe develops a crazy scheme to get at him in prison. But the cops, particularly one he knows well, make him see reason. At the same time, there begins in the city a series of murders of people close to convicted killers. A double homicide takes the lives of the wives of the lawyer who defended several of the criminals and the judge whose sentences were thought too lenient. A citywide panic begins as others receive threats and there are more murders. A famous crime fighter is soon enlisted to try and find the person who calls himself "The Avenger". The tension mounts until the climactic and utterly surprising ending.

A year after ex-NYPD detectives and former enemies Joe Serpe and Bob Healy teamed up to solve the murder of a metnally challenged young man who worked at Joe's company--and prevented the Russian Mafia from infiltrating the home heating oil business on Long Island--they are faced with an even more heinous series of crimes. Five oil truck drivers have been robbed and shot to death, their lifeless bodies left to bleed out on the cold and loveless suburban streets. The killer should have chosen his victims more wisely, because the fourth victim, Rusty Monaco, was another retired NYPD detective, one who had saved Joe Serpe's life while they were both still on the job.

Those stories you hear? The ones about things that only come out at night? Things that feed on blood, feed on us? Got news for you: they’re true. Only it’s not like the movies or old man Stoker’s storybook. It’s worse. Especially if you happen to be one of them. Just ask Joe Pitt. There’s a shambler on the loose. Some fool who got himself infected with a flesh-eating bacteria is lurching around, trying to munch on folks’ brains. Joe hates shamblers, but he’s still the one who has to deal with them. That’s just the kind of life he has. Except afterlife might be better word. From the Battery to the Bronx, and from river to river, Manhattan is crawling with Vampyres. Joe is one of them, and he’s not happy about it. Yeah, he gets to be stronger and faster than you, and he’s tough as nails and hard to kill. But spending his nights trying to score a pint of blood to feed the Vyrus that’s eating at him isn’t his idea of a good time. And Joe doesn’t make it any easier on himself. Going his own way, refusing to ally with the Clans that run the undead underside of Manhattan–it ain’t easy. It’s worse once he gets mixed up with the Coalition–the city’s most powerful Clan–and finds himself searching for a poor little rich girl who’s gone missing in Alphabet City. Now the Coalition and the girl’s high-society parents are breathing down his neck, anarchist Vampyres are pushing him around, and a crazy Vampyre cult is stalking him. No time to complain, though. Got to find that girl and kill that shambler before the whip comes down . . . and before the sun comes up.

Covering both theory and practice, this book will teach educators everything they need to know about developing restorative practices in their education settings, in a way that is also trauma-informed. The first part of the book addresses the theory and philosophy of restorative approaches, and of trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive schools. The second part outlines the five restorative skills (mindfulness, honest expression, empathy, the art of asking questions and the art of requests), what they look like in practice (including using circles, respect agreements and restorative dialogue), and how to implement them. Every strategy is clearly explained and adapted to be appropriate for children and adults who have experienced trauma. Everything the book discusses has been especially designed to be adapted for different school settings and their particular challenges.